How to back up and restore your Apple Watch

If you get a new Apple Watch, or you just need to restore your preferences after reinstalling the software, here's how to get your watch running to your satisfaction.

Image: Apple

Whether you're getting a new watch or switching iPhones, at some point of Apple Watch ownership, you may need to back up and restore your watch preferences. This how-to walks you through how to back up your watch software to your iPhone, and then restore the backup to a new watch.

Backing up your Apple Watch

By default, when you have a paired Apple Watch with your iPhone, your watch will automatically be backed up when you back up your iPhone to iCloud or iTunes, and will include the following data on the watch:

App-specific information

General system settings

Health and fitness data

Language settings

Mail, Calendar, Stocks, and Weather settings

Time Zone

Your backups will be missing the following data:

Bluetooth pairings

Credit or debit cards used for Apple Pay on your Apple Watch

Passcode for your Apple Watch

Music playlists synced to your Apple Watch

In addition, whenever you unpair your watch from your iPhone, another backup will be made during the process.

Restoring your Apple Watch

When you are ready to set up another watch or pair your watch with another phone, you'll need to unpair the watch. Follow these steps:

Open the Watch app.

Navigate to Apple Watch.

Click the Unpair Apple Watch button.

To restore from a backup, open the Watch app and begin the pairing process. When you get to the Your Apple Watch is Paired step (Figure A), follow these steps:

Select Restore from Backup.

On the following screen, select the backup that you would like to restore to your Apple Watch.

Complete the on-screen instructions for the remaining setup options.

Figure A

Image: Cory Bohon/TechRepublic

When completed, your Apple Watch settings, apps, and more will be restored to the hardware, leaving you in the same state as the previous settings on your Apple Watch (Figure B).

By Cory Bohon

Cory Bohon is an indie developer specializing in iOS and OS X development. He runs a software company called Cocoa App and is also a developer at MartianCraft. He was introduced to technology at an early age and has been writing about his favorite te...

Disclosure

Cory Bohon is an indie developer, creating both iOS and OS X applications at Cocoa App (his own company), MartianCraft, and for various other clients. As a part of full disclosure, he does not write about any software that he has created or has helped to create through these outlets.

Full Bio

Cory Bohon is an indie developer specializing in iOS and OS X development. He runs a software company called Cocoa App and is also a developer at MartianCraft. He was introduced to technology at an early age and has been writing about his favorite technology part-time since 2007. He runs a development blog named ObjDev when he isn’t writing about consumer tech.